Peake Practice with Ray Peake of Callum's Bistro, Accrington

SUMMER has arrived on its usual intermittent basis - one sunny day followed by two rainy and four cloudy.

However, because it is summer, the "barbies" are out in abundance - no, not the dolls, the ones with charcoal or butane - and cooking outdoors is again in.

You can have sausages, burgers and - if the budget allows - steaks.

But no matter what you throw on the barbie, other goodies are also needed.

As well as the wine, beer and soft drinks, you need salad.

So with this in mind I give you the recipe for Caesar's Salad. I had originally intended for it to be the Waldorf Salad but my name is Ray Peake, not Basil Fawlty, despite popular opinion to the contrary.

Caesar's Salad was first created in 1924 by Italian chef Caesar Cardini, who owned a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico.

Many Californians crossed the border at that time to buy cheap booze (probably for their barbie) and ate in his restaurant, enthusing with passion about his speciality salad.

Caesar realised he would be able to make mucho dollars as opposed to a few pesos if his restaurant was in California, so he relocated to Hollywood.

He opened an exclusive restaurant catering for film stars of the period and rumour has it that Laurel and Hardy were regulars. Caesar Salad became a worldwide hit, just like the comedy duo. This salad lends itself very well to plain, grilled, cooked meats and can also be enjoyed as a light meal in its own right, as an appetiser or as a side dish to main courses, so do please try it even without a full-scale barbecue.

Some people may throw their hands in the air when they read this recipe, claiming it is technically wrong because it features such and such an ingredient and misses out another.

In my defence, it should be appreciated that there are many worldwide variations on the basic recipe that I present to you.

Some people insist that bacon should be added, others advocate cooked chicken.

I personally prefer it in its more simple form but do feel free to add any other ingredient you feel is appropriate to enhance this dish.

The more observant of you will notice that in this recipe I list powdered parmesan cheese as an ingredient, while in previous recipes given I have dismissed it in favour of freshly-grated. This is not because I am inconsistent.

It is because in this recipe I believe the powdered one actually works better as it gives the Caesar dressing a more subtle flavour. But do use freshly grated if you wish.

If any reader is still interested in Waldorf Salad here is my shortest recipe ever:

Chop two Granny Smith apples, two sticks celery, 300g walnuts, blend with 200ml sour cream. Serve as a side dish to cold roast meats.

Caesar's Salad

DRESSING

2 egg yolks

2 cloves garlic

150ml olive oil

lemon

25g parmesan (powder type)

Freshly grated for decoration (optional)

3 small anchovy fillets (optional)

Salt

Pepper USING an electric whisk, or a hand whisk and lots of energy, whisk egg yolks, crushed garlic and parmesan cheese until light and fluffy.

Continue whisking as you gradually add the olive oil.

Add the juice of half a lemon and add salt and pepper to taste.

This dressing can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to three days.

CROUTONS are simply small cubes of stale bread fried until golden in minimal amount of equal quantities of oil and butter.

You may encounter problems buying stale bread as none is to be found on the shelves of supermarkets .

They do sell ready-made croutons, though, but you can make them better, I guarantee. To make your fresh bread stale, leave in a warm spot in the kitchen for a few hours.

The staler the crouton the less fat it will absorb in the cooking.

THERE are many varieties of crisp lettuce readily available the best to use for Caesar's Salad include Little Gem, Cos and Iceberg.

BRINGING EVERYTHING

TOGETHER

CAESAR'S Salad is simply chopped crisp lettuce tossed in Caesar's dressing, topped with croutons and Parmesan cheese.

It is most important that the lettuce is tossed in the dressing just before serving to retain the crispness of the leaves, which will otherwise go soggy and loose much of the appeal.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.